Running gear for collapsible carriages



June 2s, 1942. s, KR'OLL ETAL/ 2,287,314

RUNNING GEAR Fon coLLAPs'IBLE CARRIAGES Fiied Deo. e, 1940 Patented June 23, 1942 STATES NT -OFFICE RUNNING GEAR FOR COLLAPSIBLE CARRIAGES 3 Claims.

This invention relates to certain novel vimprovements in baby carriages and more particularly to the running gear or chassis thereof, and has for its principal object the provision of an improved construction of this character which will be highly efcient in use and economical in manufacture.

In connection with the running gear or chassis with which we are familiar and which have been in general use prior to our invention, the scissors frame structure of a collapsible carriage has the lower end portions of the scissors bars pivoted to rigid shackles in turn carried by the axles of the running gear or chassis, and these axles are in turn held in their spaced parallel relation with respect to each other through bearings xed to the side chassis bars of the chassis. In such a structure when the weight of a body, be it that of the attendant leaning upon the carriage body or the weight of the baby or child in the carriage, is imposed upon the carriage body, this weight is transmitted through the scissors bars to the shackles and thence to the axles, and in View of the fact that the axles are in fixed relation with respect to each other, undue bending action is imposed upon the scissors bars and the side bars of the chassis to the extent that either the side bars or the scissors bars are caused to buckle. From the very nature of the material from which these parts are made, we have found that upon buckling these parts generally do not resume their original condition, and as a result the wheels of the carriage are thrown out of alignment and the easy springy action allowed the baby carriage is interfered with to a great degree.

It is therefore one of the many objects of this invention to associate these parts of a carriage in a manner such that this undue strain and weight transposed to these parts are resisted and compensated for, thereby preventing distortion or rupturing of these parts by virtue of undue weight disposed thereon. In other words, one of the salient objects of this invention may be explained by briey stating that as the weight of the child increases, the relationship between these parts of the baby carriage is such as to compensate for this increased weight.

A still further object of the invention is to arrange the carriage parts together to accomplish the hereinbefore-stated objects withtout interfering Vwith or lessening the rocking and springing action of the carriage.

As a matter of fact, one of the objects of this invention is to arrange the parts in such manner that the rocking and springing action of the carriage is permitted with the greatest degree of efciency. Y

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawing showing the preferred form of construction, and inwhi'ch:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional detail view of a carriage illustrating our invention associated therewith;

Fig, 2 is a plan View of the same taken substantially on line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the axle and side-chassiS-bar mounting embodied in my invention.

The drawing accompanying this application i1- lustrates the preferred form of structure of our invention. In this connection, I3 indicates the wheels of the carriage, These wheels are mounted upon the opposite ends of axles II and I2.

Pivotally carried by these axles I2, preferably adjacentthe inner faces of the wheels I0 are shackle members I3. Pivotally connected as at I4 to these shackles I3 are the lower endportions of the scissors bars I5-I5 arranged inpairs and pvotally connected intermediate' their end portions as at I6, with their upper end portions pvotally connected as at I'I to the carriage body I8.

A stabilizing device is indicated at I9 and includes bar members 20, the ends of which are connected to the axle I2 as at 2 I. The upper ends of these bars I9 are pvotally connected as at 22 to an attaching bracket 23 connected to the bottom 24 of the carriage body I8, as at 25.

The axle I I is journaled through fixed bearings 2B connected to the opposite corresponding end portions 21 of side chassis bars 28. The axle I2 is journaled in bearings 29'adjustably carried by the chassis side bars 2B. Each of these bearings comprises a bearing cap 32]. the medial portion 3| of which provides the bearing seat for the axle I2.

Carried by the bearing plate 30 are guide bolts 32 arranged on opposite sides of the axle I2, as shown in Fig. 3. These guide bolts 32 project through aligned elongated slots 33 formed in the side bar 28 on which the cap 33 is mounted.

Preferably adjacent to the adjustable bearings 29 of the axle I2 and secured thereto in any suitable manner are tension springs 35. The opposite end portions of these tension springs 35 are secured as at 36 to a brake bar 31 of the carriage, there being suitable mechanism (not shown) for operating this brake bar 31. Such brake-bar operating mechanism is not shown as it constitutes no part of this invention, and in this connection the springs 35 may be xed to lateral extensions (not shown) provided by the chassis side bars 28, if desired.

The arrangement is such that free rocking and springing movement is permitted the carriage body I8. When a Weight is disposed upon the carriage body IB, be it that of the occupant or the operator leaning upon the body I8, such Weight will be compensated for by the self-adjusting axle I2, which is brought about by virtue of the selfadjusting bearings 29 under the control of the springs 35, which springs 35 permit the various parts to assume their normal position when the weight is not disposed upon the carriage body.

In this manner all undue stress or pressure is transmitted directly to the axle structure I2, and' due to the self-adjusting feature of this axle structure, this stress or pressure is diverted from the scissors bars I5 and the chassis side bars 23 and such other parts as generally receive the ill y effects of this undue stress or pressure. Consequently, the carriage remains more durable, the interconnecting parts thereof maintain their neat and accurate tting, eliminating looseness which would otherwise result when no structure is provided for compensating for the weight or additional weight imposed on these parts.

While We have shown the bearings for the axle I l as being xed to the side chassis bars 28, it is manifest that these-bearings may be of a structure the same as the bearings for the axle l2.

It will be seen that the structure is simple in nature and can be manufactured at an economical cost and affords great pleasure both to the occupant and operator of the carriage.

While We have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying our invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modication Without departing from the spirit of the invention- We, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of such variations and modilcations as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A baby carriage comprising a folding body :ill

structure and a chassis structure including opposite parallel spaced chassis side bars, a wheelbearing axle arranged transversely with respect to the side bars, shackle means on said axle and connected to said folding body structure to transmit a load applied thereto to said axle, adjustable bearing members for operatively connecting the axle to said side bars and adapted to move relative to the latter when a load is applied as aforesaid, and means controlling the adjustment 0f said bearing members commensurate With said load, said means comprising spring members having corresponding end portions connected to the axle and opposite corresponding end portions connected to members of said chassis structure.

2. In a baby carriage having a collapsible body structure and a chassis comprising a pair `of side bars, a wheel bearing' axle spanning said side bars and carrying shackle members connected to said collapsible body structure, for transmitting Weight applied to said collapsible body structure to said wheel bearing axles, the combination of means for compensating` for increased weight applied to said collapsible body structure said means comprising slot formations in said side bars, bearing members for said Wheel bearing axle, means movable in said slots for slidably connecting said bearing members to said side bars, and spring means for resisting the sliding movement of said bearing members when Weight is applied as aforesaid.

3. In a baby carriage having a collapsible body structure and a chassis comprising a pair of side bars, a Wheel bearing axle spanning said side bars and carrying shackle members connected to said collapsible body structure, for transmitting weight applied to said collapsible body structure to said wheel bearing axles, the combination of means for compensating for increased Weight applied to said collapsible body structure said means comprising slot formations in said side bars, bearing members for said wheel bearing axle, means movable in said slots for slidably connecting said bearing members to saidv side bars, and spring means for resisting the sliding movement of said bearing members when weight is applied as aforesaid, said spring means having corresponding end portions connected to said axle and opposite corresponding end portions connected to said chassis side bars.

SAMUEL KROLL. NATI-IAN J. KROLL. 

